Volume 23 in this classic series of recordings from the archives of The School of Scottish Studies draws together a selection of songs, tunes and customs from across Scotland, connected with marriage.

Materials from both the Scots and Gaelic traditions is included, as are items from different occupational groups including fishers, farmers and factory workers. The Archives are particularly rich in wedding material from the Shetland Isles, and in this case it has been possible to give a feel of the sequence of events connected to the wedding, before, during and after.

The material dates from the early 1950s up to the 1980s - the collectors include current and recent students of Scottish Ethnology undertaking the School’s degree programme at the University of Edinburgh who, along with staff, continue the important work of collecting and researching our cultural heritage.

The tune Wooed And Married And Aa was played immediately after the wedding ceremony on fiddle in Shetland. In John Grant’s book The Penny Wedding (1836), which provided a number of illustrations for the CD booklet, the piper leads the procession after the ceremony, and Pluscarden Abbey in Moray is shown in the background.

Special thanks are due to Morag MacLeod for selecting the Gaelic material and for transcribing and translating it. Katherine Campbell, who compiled the material for the CD, is also indebted to Dr Emily Lyle for help and support, and to Dr Margaret Mackay, Director of Archives, for her encouragement. Many others also contributed and are acknowledged within the CD booklet.